


Twin Flames

by Bexcellentaloy



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/F, M/M, Multi, but we'll see, god only knows what all ships are going to take part in this, rating may change depending on how i execute the later chapters, this is gonna be a wild ride y'all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2018-12-21 13:40:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 13,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11945421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bexcellentaloy/pseuds/Bexcellentaloy
Summary: Charlotte is in love with Becky, though she hates to admit it. So instead, she finds herself on a dating app to pass the time.Soundtrack available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/1221926596/playlist/3Tpl09II2yczfmjsWBVb4b





	1. Everything is Bullshit

**Author's Note:**

> Song for the Chapter: Twin Flames by In This Moment  
>  _So watch me dance_  
>  _And watch me fly_  
>  _For you, one last show my dear_  
>  _In the purple_  
>  _Baby watch as I crawl_  
>  _Baby watch as I crawl away from you ___  
>  _One last time_
> 
>  
> 
> __  
>   
> 
> 
> __  
> ____  
> __  
> _*And, yes, I am using liberties with how tinder actually works. Let me live*_  
>   
> 

_What an unfathomable amount of bullshit._

Charlotte Flair sprawled out on her hotel bed, not even bothering to change out of her ring gear. She was too wound up in far too many ways to even think of doing anything but brooding. As far as frustrating went, no one could ever out do Becky Lynch. Her stupid smirk and her stupid puns and her stupid eyes and the stupid way she was so protective in the ring to make sure nothing bad happened and her stupid perfect thighs…

“Ugh!”

With a huff, Charlotte flipped over on her stomach, her phone clenched tightly in her hand. You would think being a famous woman who is constantly wrestling in more-or-less undies would get her some attention in the relationship department. Though, to be fair, being a newly-outed lesbian at the age of 31 was a bit intimidating. Women were so… amazing. They were so much harder to impress. At least Charlotte thought so.

She pretended to not notice as she opened the dating app, as if the app was just opening on it’s own. Like there was someone watching over her shoulder that she would have to explain herself to. She wanted to pretend that someone like her didn’t need help getting dates. And maybe she didn’t. Maybe if she could just focus on other women...

“Maybe if I could get that stupid orange head out of my stupid head I wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.”

She sulked farther into swiping left and right. Charlotte had never actually admitted to herself how she felt about Becky. It was always a hazy thought in the back of her mind; the road under the dense fog of her attempts to cover it up. But lately it was getting harder. Ever since moving back to Tuesday nights, it had been nearly impossible to not admit what was going on. Being on separate brands was easy. A quick facetime here, a text there. She could ignore the flutter of her chest and the knots in her stomach. She would always have somewhere to be, so she didn’t get lost tracing Becky’s jawline from the screen of her phone.

The ‘Big Four’ pay-per-views were the hardest. Survivor Series left Charlotte a crying heap on her hotel floor. The next day when Sasha and Bayley, hand in hand as usual, asked why her eyes were so puffy, she blamed the “pollen in the thick Toronto air” and ran away before they could ask any questions.

But here, seeing Becky every week… every day almost, it was getting to be too much. The hugs, the gentle touches, the tea time. All of it was wearing on Charlotte. It would be different if she could act on her feelings; then maybe she would actually admit them to herself. But despite Becky being single, there was no way she liked other women. That would just be too good to be true. So again, Charlotte spent another lonely, sleepless night swiping.

_Left, left, left, maybe right… sure right, left, ooohh who’s this?_

The girl’s face was hidden behind a black mask of some sort. Her eyes were more than a little enticing. Something about her just… drew Charlotte in. Biting her lip, and her bodily desires getting the best of her, she did something she rarely found herself doing. Maybe she didn’t actually want an answer to her sex problem, maybe she wanted to act like she didn’t care enough about anyone else to be promiscuous. But here she was, getting ready to send a stranger a message. She typed out and erased what seemed like a million messages.

_Come on Charlotte just type SOMETHING._

So she sent the first thing that came to her head.

pearlheart31: I’m really bad at opening lines. So hi.

There was an audible smack as her hand forcefully met her forehead. She wanted to close out of the app and throw her phone off of the nearest bridge, but a response came way too quickly.

ArTine99: You can’t be that bad at lines cause yours just caught me hook line and sinker

It took a second for Charlotte to recognize the sound she was making as a giggle. Who does that anymore? She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth.

pearlheart31: That is far from the response I was expecting.

ArTine99: Expectations can only lead to disappointment. Best get rid of them all together and run free.

Charlotte was startled. Though she tended to avoid conversations on the website, the few she had were very different from this one. There was a carefree merit to this message. There wasn’t the lewd talking and promise of “the greatest cum u ever had” as one of the men who found her profile so eloquently put.

ArTine99: If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s only you can hold you back.

Charlotte immediately thought of Becky. Maybe she should just be honest about her feelings for once. Maybe there was a chance and only Charlotte was standing in her own way. She grimaced as the words “feelings for Becky” washed over her thoughts.

pearlheart31: That’s an answer to a problem that I never admitted I had.

ArTine99: Maybe I’m the answer you never had but always needed.

pearlheart31: And how do you know that I won’t just change the question?

ArTine99: ‘Cause no one wears a kilt like Piper.

pearlheart31: Ha. Are you out of bubblegum too?

ArTine99: Aye. But I’ll never be as good at kicking ass as the Hot Rod, so I better just stick to trying to get it.

In a flash Charlotte’s problem had come rushing back to the surface. She could feel her body heat up at the very mention of sex. She wasn’t even sure how long it had been, and being in a ring with Becky only exacerbated the problem. Something about the way Becky’s hands glided over Charlotte’s body so easily...

“This is such bullshit.”

For a second, Charlotte forgot about the woman on the other end of her phone, too wrapped up in the ghost of Becky’s hands on her skin. She could almost pinpoint their warmth. How firm she was when she hooked her up with a suplex, but how amazingly gentle she was at the same time. How her eyes watched Charlotte carefully to avoid any chance of injury. How-

ArTine99: Sorry, too forward?

pearlheart31: Oh! God no! Sorry. I got distracted.

ArTine99: Ha.

pearlheart31: Oh my god I did NOT mean it like that! 

ArTine99: Whatever gets ya off, princess. 

pearlheart31: I am not getting off! And don’t call me a princess, I’m a queen thank you.

ArTine99: Obviously you’re not much of either, else you wouldn’t be here.

pearlheart31: I… you...

ArTine99: Haha. Stuck a bit of a nerve, princess? Don’t worry, we’re all here for a reason. In any event, hope to speak to you again. It’s time for me to get some shut-eye. Long day tomorrow. Goodnight.

Charlotte stared at her phone in pure darkness for what seemed like hours. Somehow, in less than an hour, this nameless stranger had stirred a curiosity in Charlotte that no one… well, almost no one had ever done before. Charlotte threw her phone to the end of the bed and crawled under the covers.

_This is STILL bullshit. And it’s not even the orange-headed kind this time._

She buried her head in her hands; how the hell was Charlotte supposed to get over someone she totally wasn’t in love with, and yet have total heart-eyes over some woman she didn’t even know?

She slowly slid her hands down, covering the bridge of her nose. Charlotte glared at the corner of her bed where her phone lay. With one swift movement, she grabbed her phone and plopped back down on the bed. She laid in silence for a long while, the darkness of the room engulfing her and matching her newfound sullen mood. So what if she was in love with Becky? Who cares? Becky was obviously nothing worthy of a queen. Besides she was straight. 

“Story of my life.” Charlotte sighed, breaking the silence.

Yet… what about this other girl?

_Fuck, I don’t even know her name._

Dejectedly, Charlotte bashed her head against her pillow. How was she supposed to replace Becky with a girl who’s name she didn’t even know?

It was already two in the morning. Charlotte had to get up at five to be on a flight by eight to be at a house show in Connecticut in twelve hours time. Perhaps she’d have to put her crisis on hold, for yet another night, and try to get to sleep. But she knew herself too well to think that sleep would just come easy.

Pushing thoughts of Becky and this nameless woman out of her head, she brought up her trusty incognito browser so she could make herself exhausted enough to get a little bit of sleep.


	2. Surprise Indeed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise parties are rarely good ideas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Song: Room to Breathe by You Me At Six  
>  _I need a little time to think_  
>  _And if you ever will love me_  
>  _Then all I need is a little room to breathe_

“Why are we doing this?”

“Because she’ll love it now shut up and don’t mess with your hat.” 

Charlotte furrowed her brow at Sasha, who was too busy staring out the window to pay attention to her displeasure. 

“This hat is stupid.”

“You’re stupid. Shut up so I can focus.”

Somehow Sasha found a birthday hat shaped like one of those tube… things. It had a plastic headband that was definitely not sized for an adult’s head. A blue tube man stood straight up, at least three or four inches, over the top of Charlotte’s head. It even had a happy birthday sign in it’s noodly arms. God himself wouldn’t have worn the damn thing, but here was Charlotte with no choice.

“Focus on what? The empty road that your girlfriend is NOT coming down?”

Despite the fact that they both were kneeling, Sasha still had to look up to glare at Charlotte.

“She will be captain-impatient-pants. Just chill.”

“When is she supposed to be home anyway?”

“Soon, Char. Just chill okay?”

“Isn’t Becky supposed to be here?”

“She said she’s gonna be late. Had to run an errand or something.”

Charlotte huffed again, blatantly ignoring the knowing smirk on Sasha’s lips. Charlotte didn’t actually care if Becky wasn’t there. But this stupid hat was way more of a her thing than a Charlotte thing. She was disrupted from her brooding by Sasha smacking her arm repeatedly. Forcefully.

“ShitshitshitShe’s HERE!”

A moment of intense panic followed by utter silence until the lock clicked open. There was, at minimum, 40 people piled into Bayley’s living room and all of them shouted ‘surprise!’ at somewhat the same time. Charlotte giggled while Bayley literally fell over into a patch of flowers she had planted; she was nothing if not jumpy. Sasha rushed to Bayley’s side, smiling and helped her to her feet. Charlotte pretended not to get jealous when their hug lasted a while. She also wasn’t jealous as they rested their foreheads together and gently kissed each other. One. Two. Thirty-six times.

It was at that point that Charlotte realized how painfully single she truly was. Bayley and Sasha were always the highlight of the room. They were one of the first openly gay couples backstage. While they were busy helping bring women’s wrestling to the heights it should have always been at, they were also breaking down barriers backstage. Only one time did someone say something vulgar, but watching Kevin push Randy’s jaw around his head was plenty warning to everyone to never do it again. Bayley and Sasha were everything a power couple should be; and they inspired a good portion of the locker room to acknowledge that maybe they weren’t all straight either. God knows it helped Charlotte. 

But the problem was that Charlotte, unlike all of her friends, was still alone. Charlotte took attendance of the part of the room she could actually see: There was Tyler and Dango, police hats in all. Cesaro and Sheamus, wearing each other’s shirts. Peyton and Billie. Naomi and Jimmy. And the one that made her the most mad, Seth, Dean, and Roman. How in the world could they each find two boyfriends and Charlotte couldn’t even find one girl to even kind of pay attention to her?

At least her and Becky could be awkward and single together. Though, to be fair, AJ was hanging around all by himself, but only because Shane had other obligations.

He plopped down in a seat next to her, his long hair smooshed to his head under his stupid tube man hat.

“Why the long face sis?”

Charlotte rolled her eyes and smiled. Ever since AJ and her dad had worked together in TNA, he had been a sort of adopted Flair. God knows he had the confidence of one, and rightfully so.

“Just a lot on my mind.”

AJ grunted in agreement, as if he knew exactly what she was talking about.

“You know I hear Nattie is single.”

Charlotte’s head snapped to the side and her eyes lowered. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

He grinned and put his hands up submissively. “Nothing, nothing. Just making conversation.”

“And who is this?” Sasha asked, the judgement in her voice pulling in Charlotte’s attention.

“This is Luke!” Becky’s bubbly voice responded.

There standing in the doorway was Becky and some… man. She ran the name ‘Luke’ over her head and felt her lip pull into a snarl. Luke put his arm around Becky’s shoulders and said something, but Charlotte had no idea what. Her entire world went silent and dark. All there was, was Becky and her. And Luke. She could almost physically feel herself spiralling into whatever ether her brain was transporting her to.

“Char are you okay?”

AJ’s voice was so distant, Charlotte wasn’t entirely sure she had actually said anything at all. Her whole body felt heavy and cold. Being around Becky was never easy, but at least it had never made her feel physically ill. 

“I need to go. I’m sorry.”

“Wait. You can’t just leave Bayley on her birthday. Sit tight. Please.”

Never once did the word ‘love’ fall out of Charlotte’s mouth, yet she could feel everyone’s expression change when they were sharing a room. AJ got to his feet and took a breath before holding one arm around his stomach. He blended with the crowd as all Charlotte could see was Becky and this surfer-blonde, very muscular man that she already hated.

It was a weird sensation that was bubbling in Charlotte’s chest. She felt almost out of body, like the world was reduced to black and white and all that was left was her and _them_. As if the world was breaking down and pieces of the sky were about to start falling. Like there was a hiccup in the matrix and she was seeing the stripped down version of the world that no one was supposed to see.

Mercifully AJ burst through the crowd, eyes trained on only Charlotte. He didn’t say a word but grabbed her by the wrist and began to pull towards the door, only slowing when Bayley was in view. Sasha pouted at AJ and wished him better. Charlotte could have sworn that Sasha gave a small nod, as if she knew everything happening without Charlotte saying a word. She smiled weakly and focused on her feet, following an apparently sick AJ outside. 

They got outside and headed down the block towards where AJ’s car was parked.

“So… you wanna talk about it?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

AJ sighed and stopped to face Charlotte.

“Look hon, I know you’re real careful about your feelings and who you talk to and how you express them but… I can see through you. I’ve known you too long. And I know right now your world is crumblin’ under your feet. If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. But if you ever need anything, you have my number.”

“I’m sorry”, was all Charlotte could muster.

She stared at the ground as AJ pulled her in for a tight hug, rubbing her back. He was no Bayley but he knew how to give a comforting hug.

“Do you want to go get lunch or something?”

“Nah I… think I’m gonna take a walk and try to clear my head.”

AJ eyed her and nodded before walking to his car without another word. Charlotte didn’t know where she was going, or how long she was going to be there, but with one last glance towards Bayley’s house, she just went.

As if trying to match her mood, black clouds pushed themselves up over the horizon. San Jose was muggy and hot and Charlotte just wanted it to rain so she could pretend that there was rain streaming down her face instead of hot, angry tears. Luke’s face was burned in her mind like a cheap TV set. And worse yet, he was touching Becky.

And then there was Becky. How dare Becky bring that… man… to a party. How dare she not know how Charlotte felt. And how dare she hurt Charlotte in so many ways without knowing. How dare she not take Charlotte’s feelings into consideration when Charlotte had done nothing to even make her feelings clear!

“Real nice, brain.” She muttered to herself.

She didn’t even know where she was walking. Charlotte didn’t really care where she was, as long as she was away from Becky and him. She found a raised curb to sit on with a big weeping willow as shade under the hot sun. She scrunched her face as she checked her phone; three missed calls, eight texts. She pretended she didn’t see the name “Bex” at the top of her notifications. She cleared her phone without looking at anything and opened her dating app.

pearlheart31: You around?

There was a longer pause than Charlotte would have wanted. In the, probable minutes, that passed she people watched. All she could see where couples. Happy people hand in hand taking leisurely strolls through the neighborhood. All of them looked like Becky and the boy; all of them made Charlotte angry. Time was slowed down. Life was mocking her.

ArTine99: I can be.

pearlheart31: I am beside myself and I need a distraction.

ArTine99: Funny, as do I. Care to share?

pearlheart31: Not really. To sum it up… women are stupid and I wish I was straight. What about you?

ArTine99: I think I screwed something up but I never even got a chance to ask how. You know when you love someone a lot but you don’t think they love you back so you try to move on with your life and… it just doesn’t work?

Charlotte laughed so hard she was going to choke.

pearlheart31: Are you stalking me because that’s exactly what’s happening

ArTine99: I think it’s a common thing for us women who love women. We’re bad at communicating.

pearlheart31: You can say THAT again.

ArTine99: Is there anything I can do for you to ease your mind?

pearlheart31: Tell me that I’m not crazy?

ArTine99: Ah, but we’re all crazy.

pearlheart31: What if you’re the kind of crazy where you do something really stupid in the heat of the moment and then you realize… yikes. Like what if you felt justified but now that the adrenaline is coming down, you feel like an ass?

ArTine99: Are you still justified or was it stupid all together?

pearlheart31: Little column A, mostly column B?

ArTine99: Well. Assuming you actually want to make it right, I’m sure an apology would suffice. I have a hard time believing anyone could stay mad at you.

Charlotte gnawed on her bottom lip. On one hand she felt really bad for overreacting, On the other hand…

pearlheart31: Your flattery will get you everywhere… I do have a very important question.

ArTine99: Hit me

pearlheart31: I think I like you too much to not know what your name is.

ArTine99: That isn’t a question.

pearlheart31: And that isn’t an answer.

ArTine99: What is yours?

pearlheart31: I asked first.

Charlotte felt like a little girl, trying to convince one of the stupid boys of something… well… stupid. Maybe she was just buying time. Maybe this was a ploy and she was really talking to some robot that was broadcasting this conversation live to millions of people who would shun her from society.

ArTine99: Quinn.

It was then that Charlotte realized she didn’t want to give her -real- name out. Sure, there were probably hundreds of Charlotte’s billed from North Carolina but why take the chance of being found out? She needed something more incognito; more standard. More not-her-real-name.

ArTine99: Come on princess, fair’s fair.

pearlheart31: Oh fine... Ashley.

ArTine99: Ashley. I like it. But you’ll always be a princess to me.

pearlheart31: Queen dammit!

ArTine99: As you wish. Until next time.

Charlotte wondered if it was going to be a common occurrence of Quinn bailing quickly after the conversation had started. Maybe she was just a player. A smooth talker who had a dozen other girls on the side. 

Charlotte smiled, genuinely, for the first time in hours. And maybe it didn’t matter all that much anyway. Either way, she was sure she was in for one hell of a surprise.


	3. The Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Temper, temper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Heaven by PVRIS
> 
> _I think we were cursed from the start_   
>  _Second I let you into my heart_   
>  _Do you think we were speaking in tongues_   
>  _Or simply not enough?_
> 
> Soundtrack available on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/1221926596/playlist/3Tpl09II2yczfmjsWBVb4b

Charlotte felt the breeze caress her face, breaking up the humidity. The sun was finally, mercifully, starting to set. She looked around, finally coming to the full realization that she had no real idea where she was. With a shrug she started to back track. At least, she thought she was back tracking; she really had no idea where she was.

“Char wait!”

Her newfound good mood turned sour quickly as she recognized that accent. Her face pulled into an involuntary snarl while she quickened her pace. Quinn may have made her feel better but she was still way too emotional to talk to Becky.

“Oh come on Charlotte! Wait up!”

Charlotte huffed and spun on her back heel quickly, not realizing how close Becky was. There was maybe three inches between the two. There was a potpourri of emotions swirling in Charlotte’s chest, ranging from heartbroken to furious. Her mouth twitched back into a snarl and she felt her eyes ice over. Becky furrowed her brow, trying to make sense of the sudden change in Charlotte’s face, and took a step back.

“What’s gotten into you? Are you okay? Where’s AJ?”

“I am fine, thank you. He went home. Do you require something?”

Becky pursed her lips. She knew, probably better than anyone, that when Charlotte dropped her contractions she was very, very upset.

“Char what is WRONG? You looked super off and didn’t even talk to me. What gives?”

“Nothing. I do not want to talk about it.”

Charlotte turned to leave but immediately felt Becky’s hand on her arm. She spun quickly, ripping her arm out of Becky’s grasp and glaring down at her. Instead of fighting, Becky softened her gaze, not breaking eye contact with Charlotte.

“Charlotte. Please.”

Becky’s voice was soft and pleading; definitely enough to make Charlotte’s icy exterior melt a bit. Despite herself she couldn’t help but feel weak when Becky was sad. But she couldn’t tell her the truth. Being mad was so much easier than admitting she was in lo... She had feelings.

“Look. I was just… surprised, is all. Sometimes you expect something and you get blindsided. And then you learn that maybe you should just… lower your expectations.”

Becky eyed Charlotte carefully. “What, exactly, surprised you?”

There was a moment, buried deep in the back of Charlotte’s subconscious, where her brain was pleading for her to tell Becky the truth. It was almost a whisper in the middle of the turmoil of her anger, which had bullied itself to the forefront of her mind. Every emotion Charlotte was trying to hard to suppress burst to the surface. And none of them were pleasant. Her jealousy had won.

“Well maybe if my so-called BEST FRIEND would TELL ME about some FUCKBOY she was with, I wouldn’t be so surprised!”

Becky locked her jaw, her face going red.

“ExCUSE you but Luke isn’t a fuckboy! He’s a very nice man who I happen to enjoy being around! Sorry if you can’t see past your own fucking agenda, whatever that is since you don’t want to talk to me anymore!”

Charlotte’s temper took a momentary lapse. She felt like all of the air got shoved out of her lungs. Becky had never yelled at her before. She was always bubbly and smiling and more patient than she ever should be. But now there was almost a hatred in her eyes. Charlotte almost felt sorry for herself until she remembered why they were fighting in the first place.

“Of course this is my fault because you’ve tried so hard, right? Because you’re the one who facetimes me, right? Because you’re the one who waits for me after a show, right? Because you’re the one who always texts me first, right? Fuck you Becky. Go back to your stupid fuckboy and leave me alone.”

It was totally quiet as Charlotte walked away. It was as if nature itself had been shocked to utter silence. As if, for a second, the world stopped turning and all eyes were on Charlotte and Becky. When Charlotte had dreamt of the world’s eyes on the two of them, she never saw it happening like this.

“Fine then.”

Charlotte could barely hear Becky above the strengthening wind, and she certainly didn’t hear the catch in Becky’s throat as she walked away. Charlotte was too busy planning her new future; She didn’t need Becky. She definitely didn’t need Luke. She just needed herself. And Quinn.

_If I’ve learned anything in life, it’s only you can hold you back._

Charlotte snorted. If she was the only thing holding herself back, then she’d love to know what Becky was doing.

******************

Tuesdays were always busy. Ever since Smackdown Live had gone, well, live, it had been a little hectic. Shane was a mastermind at putting together intricate puzzles of the wrestling pieces he’d been given, but he wasn’t so good at putting together the personal puzzle. 

“You and Becky have a tag match against Nattie and Carmella tonight.”

Charlotte’s jaw dropped. How was she supposed to remain professional with a potential former-best-friend-slash-love-of-her-life? Especially one she told to fuck off five days prior.

“Shane… I literally… I’m sick I have to go home.”

Shane gave her a standard dad look before walking away.

 _Fuck_.

Charlotte walked into the locker room and sat on a bench, head in her hands. Everything she had said to Becky in the heat of the moment was resting on her tongue, scorching her being. Her throat scratched as if trying to get all of the words back. She knew she had made a big mistake. She didn’t need Becky, no, but she _wanted_ Becky in her life. 

“You good?”

Finally a thick accent that didn’t make Charlotte’s skin crawl with jealousy.

“Yeah, thanks Carm.”

“Are you sure? Cause you look like you ain’t slept in about three weeks.”

Carmella the person was a complete 180 from her TV persona. She was kind and soft spoken and caring and utterly annoyed with James Ellsworth at all times. Though to be fair, that last one was kind of part of her persona as well.

“I just.. Becky and I got in a fight.”

“Oh... really?

“Yeah... and I think I need to apologize about some things. Heat of the moment, you know? Have you seen her?”

“Uh. No. No I haven’t. Sorry. Good luck, Queen.”

Carmella walked out of the room a little too quickly for Charlotte’s liking. Charlotte watched the door close before her body made the decision to go and find Becky. She absolutely needed to apologize for over-reacting. She could ignore her emotions to save a perfect friendship with a perfect person.

She was out of the locker room before her brain had time to process where she was. She saw Carmella quickly bouncing down the hallway, almost as if she was running from something. Charlotte eyed the area, which was bustling with people as the show had just gotten underway. Her gaze landed on Rusev laughing with a group of people, Lana at his side. He stepped to the side enough for Charlotte to see familiar orange hair. She drew a deep breath and took a step towards the group, before immediately stopping in her tracks.

Becky wasn’t alone.

Standing on the other side of Becky was _him_. Charlotte felt every ounce of sadness and the need for forgiveness flow out of her body; she was livid. How DARE he be in her sanctuary. The place where she was able to be authentically herself. The very place where she met the, potential former, love of her life Becky Lynch.

Charlotte’s body tried to will her to move away, to go back into the locker room, but she stayed in place just studying Becky. Becky’s face was unreadable, even to someone who had known her for years. Her smile was the same as always, but there was nothing behind the eyes. That is, of course, until she matched Charlotte’s gaze. Becky’s dark eyes lit up for just an instant but Charlotte wasn’t going to stick around to see why. She ripped her gaze away and stormed back towards the locker room.

Furious did not begin to describe the all-consuming,hatred-based-jealousy that ate at Charlotte. For the first time all night, she found herself wishing the show had started so she could hit something. Anything.

And that’s when Charlotte collided with something. Not just a something, but a someone. At her feet was a sea of black and pink.

“Shit Nattie are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks. Sorry.”

“Your Canadian is showing. Don’t be sorry for me plowing you over.”

Nattie giggled and extended her hand to Charlotte, who immediately grabbed it and helped her up. Once to her feet, the two were mere inches away. The corner of Nattie’s mouth pulled up in such a way that tied Charlotte’s stomach in knots, so she took a step backwards. Nattie pretended to not notice, never once breaking eye contact.

“So where were you going in such a hurry?”

“Uh, I just… needed to go. Away.”

Nattie cocked an eyebrow. “Away?”

“Uh. Yeah. Away. To get some... Fresh air.”

“Char if you need anything -”

“No! No. I’m fine. I promise. I just need to, uh, get in the zone okay?”

Nattie nodded slowly before gently patting Charlotte on the shoulder. As she walked away, her fingers lightly trailed down Charlotte’s forearm. Charlotte cocked her head to the side and slimmed her eyes as Nattie walked away with a smirk on her face.

_Now what was that about?_

Charlotte was nothing if not oblivious. She combed her hands through her blonde hair before rushing to her phone.

pearlheart31: Care to wish me luck tonight?

There was no response. The locker room was silent, save for the occasional echo of a cheer. Finally, there was a light tap at the door.

“Women’s division tag match in 10. Report to gorrilla, please.”

Charlotte looked at her empty phone one last time before tossing it back in her bag. With a heavy sigh, she slowly pushed the locker room door open.

_Guess I’m on my own tonight._


	4. Miss Understandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte is not very good at making decisions logically

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Careful by Paramore  
>  _The truth never set me free_  
>  _So I did it myself_

Being a hall-of-famer’s daughter did have it’s perks. Charlotte was truly treated like royalty. And, for once, women were taken seriously insofar as their in ring talent versus their looks. Main eventing any type of show would never get old; even if she had been the headline of every single Smackdown Live.

But this week was entirely different. She stood in the corner watching Becky put her hands on Carmella and Natalya. There was a mixture of jealousy and self-hatred. Thank god Becky came out last so Charlotte didn’t have to awkwardly share a ring with her more than necessary. They did have to do Tea Time before the match, though; Charlotte’s fingers nearly throbbing at the very touch of Becky.

Charlotte herself couldn’t remember a single move or hot tag, save for the fact that Carmella pinned her after Ellsworth got involved. And, really, none of it mattered.

Charlotte sat in the corner of the locker room, staring at her phone. Quinn still hadn’t responded. Charlotte’s face was in her hands; maybe Quinn got sick of her already? Very possible that she could go two-for-two on pissing people she cared about off. She was trying so hard to will Quinn to respond, that she didn’t hear the locker room door slam shut. She was so wrapped up in her phone, that she barely felt a person plop down next to her.

“Char are you really okay?”

Charlotte jumped, her attention immediately focusing on Natalya. She tried desperately to refocus her icy blue eyes on the Canadian in front of her, but all she see could see was Becky with Him.

“ _Charlotte_.”

Charlotte focused at the insistence of Nattie’s tone. She tried really hard to push the idea of Becky OR Quinn out of her head, to focus on the woman in front of her.

“Look. I know you’re not okay. You were a zombie during our match. You are barely listening now... So what’s wrong.”

“Nothing is wrong. I am okay.”

“Charlotte please. I’m not leaving until you open up.”

It was then that Charlotte noticed Natalya’s hand on her thigh. 

“Oh, sorry. Is this okay? I’m not trying to be rude.”

“It’s… I guess it’s not NOT okay. I’m just… confused?”

Nattie gave Charlotte’s leg a squeeze before pulling her hand away. She took a breath and smiled.

“Look Char. I know how you feel about Becky-”

“I-”

“Let me finish please. I’m just saying that there are other options if you’re willing to explore them.”

Immediately Charlotte’s brain flashed to Quinn. She glanced at her phone and saw no notification light; still no response. She returned her focus to Nattie, eyes slimming; Maybe Quinn wasn’t Quinn. Maybe Quinn was Nattie.

Charlotte grimaced as she studied Natayla. There’s no way the Canadian could be as suave as Quinn.

“What exactly are you trying to say?”

Nattie smiled and pulled one of Charlotte’s hands between her own.

“I’m saying, dummy, that I think you’re really cute and I wouldn’t mind kissing you.”

Charlotte’s initial reaction was to laugh; there was no woman on planet Earth that wanted to kiss her, let alone an attractive one like Natayla. Yet Nattie sat next to her, gasping her hand, and tilting her head in that almost-annoying-I-know-best-Hermione sort of way.

“You’re serious.”

It was more of a statement than a question. Nattie’s smile never left her face.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

Charlotte blinked rapidly. Surely this had to be some sort of joke, right? She looked around the locker room for the Swerved cameras.

“Char. What are you looking for?”

Charlotte got to her feet to examine the corners of the room. Her eyebrows stayed furrowed. “I just… this has to be some sort of sick joke.”

Nattie laughed and got to her feet, meeting Charlotte at the corner of the room she was examining. Charlotte felt her presence and jumped, spinning around ready to fight away from the corner, instinctively. Nattie grasped both of her hands into her own and pulled Charlotte down to a more even level. She could feel Nattie’s hot breath across her face; and she hated to admit that she liked it.

“All you have to say is yes.”

Charlotte shivered to her core. She looked down at Nattie with new eyes. Had she always been so charming? So attractive? Really, what did Charlotte have to lose?

“Yes.” She breathed.

Charlotte tried to not smile as she felt Natayla stand on her tip toes. The intimacy of the kiss was almost foreign, but welcome all the same. There was an urgency behind Nattie’s lips that Charlotte immediately had to notice when her butt became a squeeze toy. She wanted to stop it, she knew that Nattie wasn’t the one she wanted, but her body said no.

“What the fuck?!”

Charlotte almost threw Nattie across the room at the sound of Becky’s voice. There she was, dark eyes wide, staring at Natalya and Charlotte, mouth agape. Charlotte went from happy to angry in a millisecond. How dare Becky barge into the locker room and get angry. Charlotte and Becky never broke eye contact. Charlotte slimmed her eyes and felt Nattie slowly begin to back away.

_Only you can hold you back_

“What’s it to you?” She said as she grabbed Nattie by her ring gear and pulled her in for another deep kiss.

“Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“Becks why you yelli- oh.”

Charlotte could hear the concern, and slight judgement, in AJ’s drawl, but ignored him all the same. She was too focused on her body feeling alive for the first time in years.

******

ArTine99: You around?

pearlheart31: Depends, are you?

ArTine99: I am now.

pearlheart31: So you are.

Charlotte was still angry that Quinn had been MIA for several hours now. That plus ignoring Becky and Nattie’s calls and text were enough to drive her to a full bottle of wine. Or two.

ArTine99: Are… you okay?

pearlheart31: Honestly? Not at all. I hate that I love girls cause all I do is get hurt and I’m so tired of it. And now the problem is threefold cause I’m a fucking idiot.

ArTine99: Wanna talk about it?

pearlheart31: No. I want to get drunk and sulk. About everything.

ArTine99: To be honest with you, I do too. Havin’ a few drinks myself.

pearlheart31: What’s your poison? 

ArTine99: Whiskey. You?

pearlheart31: Wine.

ArTine99: Fitting choice for a princess.

Despite herself Charlotte cracked a smile. It was little, but it was there.

pearlheart31: Where’ve you been all day?

ArTine99: Workin’. Spending time with some friends. Contemplating my existence. Wishing I was talkin’ to a princess to feel better about my life.

Charlotte’s grin grew bigger.

pearlheart31: I missed you today.

ArTine99: And I missed you. I very desperately wanted to get away.

Charlotte wanted to be mad at Quinn. She tried to refocus the flame of her anger, but it was growing dim. Talking to Quinn was so natural and soothing. They could spend hours talking about nothing at all. She felt like everything Charlotte thought Becky was. But the difference was that Quinn was there, right now, for her. And Becky…

Charlotte’s phone buzzed again and she quickly picked it up hoping it was Quinn. It was not.

Becky: You can’t avoid me forever. We need to talk.

Charlotte’s anger flared for a minute until she switched tabs.

pearlheart31: Well, you’re here now, and I couldn’t be happier to be talking to anyone else.


	5. Great Decisions, Batman

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte is still really bad at making decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Phase by Breaking Benjamin  
>  _Your lips are better than mine_  
>  _So you can kiss this goodbye_  
>  _My imitation of life_  
>  _My litigation of life_  
>  _It's something easy to find_  
>  _Inside the shade of your eye_  
>  _Out of the ground I rise to grace_  
>  _Nobody knows it's just a phase_

“I know where you keep the spare key! Open the fucking door!”

Charlotte slowly opened her eyes. It was hard to focus on the spinning ceiling when AJ was yelling at her from the back door. She barely sat up, somehow on her living room floor instead of her bed.

“I KNOW YOU’RE HOME YOU DON’T FUCKING DRIVE. OPEN UP.”

“You might as well come in.” She said weakly.

Charlotte was sure that AJ couldn’t hear her whisper, but moments later she heard her door unlock. Charlotte pulled the throw blanket that was near her over her head; AJ was way too loud for a morning like this.

“What in the actual fuck is wrong with you?!”

Charlotte pulled her blanket over her ears tighter, as if that was going to help. AJ yanked the blankets off and threw them aside. Charlotte groaned.

“Seriously what has gotten into you? Do you have any idea how upset Becky is?”

Charlotte sat up quickly, or at least as quickly as someone who was 80 years old would sit up.

“Good lord almighty you’re drunk aren’t you? Charlotte!”

Charlotte closed one eye, trying to focus on the two or three spinning AJ’s in front of her.

“Who cares.”

Charlotte flopped back onto the ground for a moment until AJ grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her up.

“I care! What the hell Char?”

“Fuck Becky”, she said as she slid back to the floor.

“For fuck’s sake. This has gotten out of hand.”

AJ again grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a sitting position.

“Do you really honestly think fucking Nattie is gonna make you feel better?”

Charlotte snorted. “We didn’t fuck. We just made out cause Becky sucks. Nattie is like REALLY good at making out.”

She could hear AJ’s palm hit his face. Out of squinted eyes, since when did the sun get so bright, she could see him rubbing his temples.

“Look. I was just KIDDING when I made that joke about Nattie. You should really, Char… REALLY focus on Becky.”

“She’s dating that loser Luke! Fuck ‘em!”

“Char-”

“No bro. Fuck Becky and fuck that stupid bearded idiot she has with her. I don’t need them! I have Quinn!”

“The fuck is Quinn? Char you need some water or something. Listen. I told Becky to meet me here so we can talk this out. She’s really hurt.”

Charlotte wasn’t a drinker. The two… or three bottles of wine she chugged were absolutely destroying her. She wasn’t sure why her dad spent the first 10 years of her life drinking because this was awful.

AJ tried to yank her noodle arms so she would stand; She had only said goodnight to Quinn three hours prior. There was no way she was sober enough to stand. AJ let her hit the floor hard and walked away. He came back moments later, throwing a glass of ice cold water at Charlotte’s face.

“WHAT THE FUCK AJ!?”

“FOCUS YOU ANGSTY FUCK.”

“Focus on what? Becky ain’t got no reason to be mad.”

“Listen if you would just let me EXPLAIN-”

 

“Look I love you but you gotta go. I ain’t dealing with this right now.”

Charlotte tried to get to her feet, already forgetting the soaking wet floor, and fell on her face. AJ sighed heavily.

“Char look it isn’t-”

“I’m not listen. Go. Leave. Now.”

Charlotte pushed herself up to her knees and stared at AJ. Or, at least one of the two AJ’s she was seeing. He put four hands in the air in defeat.

“Fine. Whatever. Ruin everything on your own. But don’t say I didn’t try.”

“And tell Becky to go fuck herself!” Charlotte slurred after AJ.

“Don’t need Becky. Don’t need no one. Pfft. Hurt. Fuck that. Hurt for what?”

Charlotte grumbled to herself as she got to her feet and stumbled into the kitchen. It was 10am. Time for another drink. As she was rummaging for more wine, she heard a gentle knock on the front door.

“Fuck off, AJ! I’m not in the mood!”

“Uh, I’m not AJ.”

The voice was sheepish and decidedly not southern. Charlotte tripped over herself getting out of the kitchen and yanked open the door. Natalya stood there, hands clasped in front of her, looking almost nervously at Charlotte.

“Uh… hi.”

“Charlotte, are you okay? You look… oh my god are you drunk?”

“I don’t drink. Much.”

Nattie put an arm around Charlotte’s waist and walked her inside. She plopped down on the couch, but Natalya stayed standing, her face scrunched.

“Uh.. the floor is wet. You didn’t…”

“Oh fuck! No! AJ was here! He threw water at me cause he’s a fuckin’ dick.”

Nattie cocked an eyebrow. “AJ was here?”

“Yeah. He was tryin’ to lecture me and stuff. Like he knows my LIFE.”

Nattie cupped Charlotte’s face in her hands. For the first time since she woke up, she was able to focus on something that wasn’t blurred. Maybe the water helped after all.

“Honey. Isn’t AJ one of your best friends? What, exactly, was he trying to tell you?”

“That this is a bad idea! That I’m too emotional and something about Becky but who _cares_?”

Nattie sat down on the couch, a few feet away from Charlotte. Her demeanor never changed.

“Charlotte. When you kissed me last night… was that because you wanted to kiss me, or you wanted to prove a point by kissing -someone-?”

“I-”

“Look it’s okay! I’m not offended. I know where your heart truly lies and I would never get in the way of true love.”

“But-”

“But, I’m just saying that it could be fun for awhile. But I need you to be totally honest with me, okay? If you don’t want to do it, then we don’t do it. But if you maybe want to have a little fun and blow off some steam…”

Charlotte knew she was bad with words, and even worse with emotions. But what she didn’t quite understand was why she was suddenly straddling Nattie’s lap. Even more so, she didn’t understand why her fingers were locked together, pulling Natalya towards her. And more so, she didn’t understand why when their lips pressed together, a burning sensation rose from between her legs. It was only moments before she felt Nattie’s palms on her chest.

“Charlotte wait.”

Charlotte was trying to focus on just one Natalya; her squirming was making it very difficult.

“Charlotte.” 

She stopped, looking at Nattie square in the eye. Or at least what she thought was her eye. It was hard to tell where it was. 

“Look. I would love to do this, but not when you’re drunk. It’s not fair to you or me.”

Charlotte sat back on her heels, trying to digest Nattie’s tone. 

“Apparently I can’t get my timing right with you two.”

Charlotte’s head snapped up so quickly, she was sure she was going to have a concussion. 

“What the fuck are you doin’ in my house?” Charlotte slurred.

Becky sighed and raised her hands. “AJ told me to be here. I’m here. He’s not. And I guess I’ll follow suit. Bye Charlotte.”

“Becky wait-”

“Don’t worry Nattie. No hard feelings.”

It was suddenly silent again after the door slammed shut. Charlotte had forgotten, all-too-quickly, that Becky knew where the spare key was hidden. She wasn’t sure which emotion was prominent, but her chest felt heavy. She wanted to pretend she didn’t care at all, but pretend was reserved for her acting on Tuesday nights. Nattie was a nice filler, but she would never be a Becky. 

“Come on Char. Let’s get you to bed.”

“An’ who says I’m tired?”

“You. And the tears in your eyes. I promise I’ll stay, if you want me to.”

Charlotte nodded through her sigh; why bother fighting when Becky was already lost? Might as well have a little bit of fun while she could. Besides, she did like Nattie… Didn’t she?

“I want you to.”

Nattie nodded, and without another word Charlotte found herself drifting to sleep in the short Canadian’s arms.


	6. Tertiary Headaches

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A threeway of fuckery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SotC: Waiting by Trapt  
>  _I want to meet up with you and show you what I'm thinking  
>  I'll take you anywhere that you want to go  
> I'm sitting here bored and lonely and you'll know  
> That anytime your free to show me how you feel_

_It was pouring out. There was water everywhere. Charlotte was driving as fast as she could to escape the flooding, but it was catching up to her. As she looked in her rearview mirror to watch the wave chase her, she drove through a puddle. A deep puddle. A puddle that was suddenly covering her entire car. She drove faster. She had to get away._

_Finally, there was a familiar house at the top of the mountain. She skidded her bright red car to a halt, jumping out and immediately asking if there was room in the house. The owner nodded, fresh snow covering the top of his head. It crunched beneath her feet as she sprinted inside to avoid the rising waters, not noticing the new frozen water building near her._

_There were ten other people in the house; all looking out of the big glass panes at the rising water. The house began to quietly crack under pressure; It wasn’t much longer now. A shadow emerged from the other room, sullen._

_“Any requests before your last rites?” The priest in an orange collar asked._

The thing about the sun is that it’s always bright and far too hot when it’s blinding you in the early morning. Charlotte grunted and tried to roll her face out of the sunlight, but quickly found she was held tightly in place. Her head throbbed and her throat was way too dry as she squinted around to find the source of her placement. It didn’t take long for her to realize there were arms gently wrapped around her. 

“Are you awake?” Nattie’s voice cooed gently. 

“Nat?” Her heart broke for a millisecond.

“You asked me to stay, remember?”

Truth be told, Charlotte didn’t remember at all. She had no idea how she got home, how Natalya was in her bed, and what happened after Smackdown Live went off air.

“We... We kissed…”

Natalya chuckled and combed her fingers through the ends of Charlotte’s hair.

“We did. A few times.”

Charlotte’s face grew hot; be it from Natalya’s touch or the way her body moved when she laughed, Charlotte was unsure.

“I… uh… I drank last night didn’t I? Did I… um… I can be a little... That is to say… ”

“You tried once and then stopped. It was this morning, actually. You’re okay. How do you feel?”

The laugh that escaped Charlotte’s throat was anything but humorous. 

“Like the forsaken love child of death and crap? What time is it?”

“7 p.m. The sun is starting to set.”

“Oh… so… it’s not morning then.”

Both women laughed for an instant before Nattie kissed Charlotte.

“Oh jeez. I’m… sorry. That just kind of happened I’m really sorry Charlotte.”

Charlotte grinned and kissed Nattie once for herself. She could feel the ‘sorry’ melt off of her lips.

“Don’t be.” Charlotte breathed.

Her grip grew tighter as she pressed her lips to Natalya’s bare skin, but Nattie placed a firm palm on Charotte’s shoulder.

“Wait. I need to be sure this is what you want, and not because you’re drunk or hungover or whatever. I’m not asking for forever, but I need to know it’s what you actually want.”

Charlotte squinted up at Nattie and examined her closely. Gorgeous lips, piercing eyes, a jaw that could cut glass. But no orange hair.

“... Are you hungover cause I would prefer for you to not vomit on me.”

“Hah. No. I mean, I don’t think so. I was just… making sure my intentions were pure. Or. Not pure I guess?”

The kiss was gentle. At least at first. It soon became a wave of need and want washing over Charlotte; a burning sensation bubbling deep in her core that she could only convey with a harder kiss and clawing nails. Nattie leaned her body into Charlotte’s, toppling over her and swinging her leg around. Nattie slid her hands up Charlotte’s forearms and pinned them high above her head.

“Is this okay?” She breathed, inches from Charlotte’s lips.

Charlotte bucked in response but Nattie didn’t budge. The right side of her lip pulled into a snarl.

“I believe I asked a question.”

Charlotte’s breath hitched; it’d been so long since she had been touched and the almost condescending tone lacing Natalya's words made her entire body burn even hotter.

“Yes.”

“Yes _what_?”

“Yes… buh… ma’am?”

The burning stopped for a half a second, replaced by a cold fear of the word that almost slipped out of her hungry lips. Nattie didn’t seem to notice, but Charlotte knew. It was the first time in a long time that Charlotte felt the hands of someone else giving her pleasure, but she was no longer even present. Rose colored glasses would have been a nice change of pace from the orange lenses that were burning her soul.

\------

It never really mattered what time it was, either way Charlotte wanted to disappear into the ether. After long last she was laying naked, completely spent, and it wasn’t her own doing. It’s what she wanted all along after all. Yet no one was at her side, her sheets were surprisingly cold, and her brain stayed plagued with Becky.

She hadn’t moved since Nattie left, however long ago that was. Her room was pitch black with only a sliver of streetlight painting the center of the curtains. Somehow she was more alone than ever. Even after everything had happened; Did she like Natalya? Yes. Of course.

“Probably.”

She pinched the bridge of her nose; how did she even get into this mess? Nattie wasn’t even on her radar a week ago and yet here she was, face covered in her cum. One girl was enough of a headache. God forbid she had two. Charlotte opened her eyes and saw a green light blinking onto her ceiling. 

“Of course.”

She sighed and picked up her phone. As if she needed a third headache.

ArTine99: Hey you

pearlheart31: Hey. How’re you?

ArTine99: Good. Mostly. A bit on the horny side. You?

Charlotte’s insides burned again. Her and Nattie had just fucked for hours and yet her head was spinning at the mere mention of Quinn saying she was horny.

pearlheart31: Well then.

ArTine99: Was that too forward?

pearlheart31: No. Not at all. It got a reaction. One I’m sure you’d be okay with.

ArTine99: You know, I really like you Ashley. I think I’d like to maybe get lunch at some point?

Charlotte’s smile almost jumped off of her face. Of course she wanted to meet Quinn, what kind of question was that? Quinn was everything she wanted; she was funny and intelligent and safe and…

Charlotte stopped for a second. Quinn grounded her when she needed it most, but probably had no idea what she actually meant to Charlotte. She was the sun on a cloudy day, and Charlotte was sure that if she was laying in bed, naked, with Quinn she wouldn’t feel so empty.

But what about Nattie? What were they? Sure they made out a few times and spent most of the day fucking but did that make them girlfriends? They hadn’t even been out on a date. Charlotte pursed her lips; she didn’t much like the term ‘fuck buddies’. At least, not for herself. It just sounded so insensitive, so cold.

And, of course, Charlotte couldn’t forget about the Orange Menace. She closed her eyes and instinctively let her fingers unlock her phone.

pearlheart31: Definitely.

“Fuck.”


	7. Princess Diaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Sweet Nothing by Calvin Harris ft Florence Welch  
>  _So I put my faith in something unknown_  
>  _I'm living on such sweet nothing_  
>  _But I'm tryin' to hope with nothing to hold_  
>  _I'm living on such sweet nothing_  
>  _And it's hard to learn_  
>  _And it's hard to love_  
>  _When you're giving me such sweet nothing_

“Nattie’s gonna give you the rub.”

Charlotte’s attention jerked back into the present. It had only been two weeks since her and Natalya officially started dating, and about as long since she started ghosting Quinn.

Daniel stared at Charlotte with a sly smirk.

“I know you know what I meant, you dirty bird.”

Charlotte smiled and put her hands up, she didn’t need to tell Daniel that she spent every second of everyday mentally abusing herself for ignoring Quinn. Nor did she want to talk about how, although on shaky speaking terms again, seeing Becky was like a stab in the chest.

“So that means that I’m…? Like, seriously?”

Daniel smiled again. “Char, you’re one of the best performers in the entire company. It’s time you held the title again.”

“Thank you, honestly. I can’t-”

Daniel put his hand up. “Don’t thank me. Thank you for all of the hard work you put in. You know, we were afraid that you being here would cause… problems. But I’m glad to see that’s under control. Anyway. I gotta go find Shane so we can go over our segment. Break a leg out there.”

The feeling was somehow empty when he left. Charlotte drew a deep breath and headed towards the locker room to get properly ready.

“The queen reigns again!”

Charlotte turned around to find AJ with a big grin. She couldn’t help but return the grin; it was nice to be back on speaking terms, but it would have been even nicer had he not physically cringed whenever Charlotte brought up Nattie. Good brother AJ was understanding, and accepted Charlotte’s apology but the look in his eye said he was going to keep her at arm’s length for awhile.

Charlotte smiled and patted him on the back as she walked towards the locker room. This was the worst she felt in months; she just couldn’t get her brain to focus. As the locker room door shut behind her, she trained her eyes on her personal orange demon.

“There’s the queen.”

Charlotte felt a rush of blood run to her cheeks. Something about Becky calling her queen was too much to handle.

“Don’t sound too happy, you might crack a smile.”

Becky’s lips pulled into a knowing smirk, her eyes trained on Charlotte only. Charlotte could potentially deal with everything if the entire world didn’t have a way of falling away when Becky looked at her. She felt more blood rush to her skin as she devoured every particle on Becky’s face; why did she have to be so…. Perfect?

She felt herself watching Becky’s mouth move, entranced by her perfect lips; the sharpness of her jaw. Her face was far, far too kissable…

“Charlotte?”

“Oh, yeah, uh… sorry just thinking about the match is all.”

There was a split second where Becky’s eyes flashed, but Charlotte couldn’t figure out what the emotion behind them was. She licked and bit the very corner of her lip, the way she always did when she was up to something.

“I better leave you to it. Break a leg.”

Becky ran her hand up Charlotte’s arm and patted her gently before walking out of the locker room. Charlotte’s head was spinning; it had been so long since Becky had touched her at all that she felt like her head was about to explode.

“You okay?”

Charlotte quickly collected herself so she could face her girlfriend. 

_My girlfriend. Weird._

“Just thinking. You have something that I want.”

Nattie smiled. “I thought we already took care of that today?”

Charlotte’s face flushed. She never realized how much of the sweet, innocent Canadian trope was total bullshit.

“So when do I get to hold my belt?”

“Easy there princess, you’re not a queen just yet.”

Charlotte’s ears perked. “What did you just call me?”

“Princess.” Nattie said with a smug grin, “I’m still the queen around here. At least for a few more hours.”

Charlotte stared at Nattie, as if she could find the answers plastered on her face.

“That’s a new one.”

“A new what?”

“Name. You’ve never called me princess before.”

Nattie shrugged. “I never had a reason to? Does it bother you?”

“No just… haven’t heard it in awhile.”

Nattie scrunched her face. “You know you can just say it was a Becky thing. I’ll understand.”

“Why do you automatically assume it’s _a Becky thing_? I can have other people in my life.”

Nattie’s smile was sickly sweet when she turned around. Charlotte took exception to the way she planted a kiss on her cheek. 

“So you can. Enough about that. Duck the discus, boot me in the face, and I’ll tap to The Eight. Let’s wing it.”

Once again Charlotte found herself alone in the locker room. It was eerily quiet which only aided her thoughts in running rampant. Nattie had never called her princess before; it was just a coincidence wasn’t it? Charlotte glanced at the phone in her hand. She was scared to meet Quinn, but even more scared yet to message her now.

What if she was Nattie? Would Nattie be that smooth to talk to? She certainly had the moves to do so.

Pearlheart31: Uh… hey.

ArTine99: So she does live.

Pearlheart31: Are you… upset?

ArTine99: Bit.

Charlotte bit her lip, she wasn’t entirely sure what her goal was. But there had to be a way to prove that Quinn was Quinn and not Nattie… right? But how would she do it without giving herself away?

ArTine99: Look, if you don’t want to meet yet that’s fine. But I really don’t want to play this bullshit back and forth game. You’re here or you’re not.

Pearlheart31: Okay… i’m not ready to meet. I think.

ArTine99: Was that so hard?

Pearlheart31: I’m just kind of… new to this. I’m not used to anyone wanting to spend time with me.

ArTine99: Well… I do. I mean if you want me to. It just kinda hurts when the person who you like kind of… walks out of your life, you know? It’s happened to me way more often than I’d like.

Pearlheart31: Yeah I. I’m sorry. That was shitty of me. We’ll meet up. Soon. I promise. I gotta go change for work though okay? I miss you.

Charlotte’s face was beet red. She couldn’t believe she had actually said that to someone that wasn’t her girlfriend.

_Oh fuck my girlfriend. I have one of those. Is this… am I CHEATING? Oh fuck. What am I even doing? I thought I was supposed to figure out if this WAS my girlfriend in which case, isn’t she cheating too? But is this cheating? We haven’t like, done anything. Shit. Fuck._

ArTine99: See ya later, princess.

“And I still don’t know who you are. Fuck.”


	8. Fight Becky Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte gets a title shot! It... doesn't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Maybe by Kelly Clarkson (one of my favorite songs of all time)
> 
> _I just want to be loved by you_   
>  _And I won't stop, cause I believe_   
>  _In maybe, yeah maybe... maybe..._   
>  _I should know better than to touch the fire twice_   
>  _But I'm thinking maybe, yeah, maybe I might_

_Ding! Ding! Ding!_

_Nattie and Charlotte tie up with the bigger of the two easily pushing Nattie across the ring. Nattie purses her lips and goes in for another tie up. Once again Charlotte shoves her across the ring, this time with a loud and condescending WOOO, echoed by the crowd._

_Tom: Natalya is playing a losing game trying to outpower Charlotte._

_Corey: Hey Nattie has some muscle too; give her some credit!_

_Nattie springs at Charlotte, pulling her legs from underneath her and connecting hard with right hands. The ref breaks them up as Charlotte tries, and fails, to get her hands up to block._

_Byron: Interesting that the referee would get involved in a no disqualification match._

_Corey: Shut up, Byron._

_Natalya gets to her feet and throws her arms up for the crowd, wooing at them as they shower her in boos. She grabs Charlotte by the hair and pulls her to her feet, kicking her in the gut and immediately clubbing her on the back. Charlotte drops to a knee for only a second before Nattie pulls her back up and throws her between the ropes to the apron. Charlotte pulls herself to her feet as Nattie taunts the crowd._

_Byron: Not very wise to take your eye off of the Queen!_

_Nattie goes for a discus clothesline to knock Charlotte off the apron, but Charlotte ducks and hits her with a reverse hangman. Charlotte quickly slides back into the ring and goes for the cover. 1...2… no! Nattie rolls her shoulder off the mat._

_Charlotte gets back to her feet, pulling Nattie up by the hair. She pushes her into the corner before hitting her with a thunderous chop!_

_Crowd: WOOOO!_

_Charlotte pushes Nattie’s head back and chops her again, much to the delight of the crowd. Charlotte grabs Nattie around the chin and woo’s in her face and chops her a third time! Nattie stumbles out of the corner, bent over and clutching her chest. Charlotte pushes herself into the corner and runs at Natalya._

_Tom: Charlotte thinking Natural Selection here!_

_Byron: But the veteran Natalya had it scouted well!_

_Nattie ducks out of the way as Charlotte crashes hard to the canvas. Nattie pushes herself to her feet and grabs Charlotte, stepping through for a sharpshooter. Charlotte quickly twists her body and sends Nattie between the ropes and crashing to the floor! Charlotte shakes the cobwebs out before sliding outside and positioning herself behind Nattie. Charlotte drops to a knee and taunts her to get up. Nattie gets to one knee and starts to pull herself to her feet, but Charlotte hits a Natural Selection!_

_Corey: I love it! No holding back! The Queen wants her throne back!_

_Tom: And she may very well have it if she can get Natalya back into the ring!_

_Charlotte is on her knees, grinning at the fallen Nattie before looking up at the turnbuckle._

_Byron: I… don’t think that’s what Charlotte has in mind though!_

_Charlotte stands over Nattie who is slowly crawling towards the ring. She stomps on her before going towards the time keeper’s booth and grabbing a chair. The crowd erupts as she holds it up. Charlotte lays it across Nattie’s chest and smiles as the ref issues warning after warning to the challenger. She doesn’t listen and crawls onto the apron._

_Tom: Charlotte is going to get herself disqualified!_

_Corey: Hey, no DQ remember? Charlotte is on a mission!_

_Charlotte slowly climbs to the top rope and looks back at Nattie who is still out. Charlotte steadies herself and looks out into the crowd, who is on their feet. She draws a breath and flips back with a perfect moonsault. But Nattie is on her feet and clobbers her with the chair!_

_The impact sends Charlotte to the floor with a heavy thud. Charlotte grabs her shoulder in intense pain from the chairshot, but can’t focus her eyes through the sudden pounding of her head._

_Ref: Charlotte? Charlotte?!_

_She can feel Nattie’s boot push into her before the world fades to black. The last thing she hears is a distant dinging and the ref shouting._

\--

The murmur was loud; as if there’s a million people in a dance hall wondering why the music stopped. The room was still spinning as Charlotte came to; She could hear very distinct voices though she couldn’t place a single one of them.

“Move or I’ll fuckin’ move ya!”

Until she heard that one.

“Be…”

Charlotte tried to reach out with her right arm but yelped in pain.

“CHARLOTTE!”

She was barely able to open her eyes as someone desperately grabbed at her good hand; but she’d know the scent of that skin anywhere.

“Becky…” She said weakly.

“I’m here Charlie. I’m right here. Don’t worry.”

“That was a nasty bounce her head took. Hard to do tests on someone who’s passed out but that’s a guaranteed concussion. That and the laceration on her shoulder, means she should be fine within a few weeks. We’ll have to retest her before we can clear her though.”

Charlotte tried to focus on the doctor’s voice, but got lost in the feeling of Becky’s hand locking in her own.

“Where’s my girlfriend?!”

Charlotte heard the door slam open as well as a throaty growl.

“This is all your fault! You need to be more careful!” Becky yelled.

“Excuse me? Shouldn’t you be in catering helping clean up? Get away from my girlfriend.”

“Oh you’re dating? Couldn’t tell by the way you obsessively make out with her. What are you trying to prove? That you are a great liar? You don’t even care about her! I’ve seen you around Tyson.”

“Tyson whom? Don’t be mad at me because I got the girl. Oh, and, trust me, she’s a great kisser.”

Charlotte’s hand was suddenly empty as chaos erupted. She squinted through her pounding headache as she propped herself up with her good arm. Becky had tackled Natalya into the wall and was scratching and clawing at her face.

“I’ll fucking KILL YOU!”

Security and half of the men’s locker room piled in. Big E had to physically pull Becky away, and still she kicked and screamed. Nattie pushed herself to her feet and wiped some blood away with the back of her hand; there was an evil smirk on her face.

“Don’t be mad because you weren’t woman enough, flame princess.”

Charlotte was sure it was the migraine she currently had playing tricks on her, but Becky was now free of Big E’s grasp and leapt through the crowd. A primal scream pierced her ears before giving way to the sound of flesh hitting flesh. Charlotte tried to sit up farther but felt AJ’s hand on her arm.

“Come on Char, we need to get you out of here.”

Her body felt like it wasn’t her own as she got to her feet and she could barely open her eyes enough to see. She walked with her arm around AJ’s neck, very gingerly, out of the training room. He was very focused but despite herself Charlotte couldn’t keep her brain from going into overdrive.

“AJ… do you think Becky is gonna be okay?”

AJ chuckled to himself. “Doll she just took out four of our biggest men, I’m certain she can hold her own in a fight.”

“No I mean… she’s not gonna get fired is she?”

“Doubtful. She might get fined and suspended though. And I somehow doubt we’re gonna see Nattie and Becky in a ring together any time soon.”

The noise finally faded as the made their way into the parking lot. Charlotte’s legs finally felt solid underneath her, but she still didn’t want to be without AJ. There was a heavy silence as she got into the passenger seat of his car. Watching Becky lose control like that just for her was a lot for Charlotte to take in. She gnawed on her lip; it was high time she admitted something.

“Hey AJ?”

“Yeah doll?”

“I… um. I know I’m dating Nattie and all that but… I… am in love with Becky.”

Charlotte could see the smirk play on AJ’s face under the passing street lights. 

“Feel better to say out loud?”

“... yeah. But my face is burning.”

“I can feel the heat from over here.”

She shoved him and rolled her eyes, feeling immediately relaxed.

“So what’re you gonna do about it?”

Charlotte drew a breath and focused on the city passing her by. She thought about Becky fighting some more; about how instead of fighting, or even trying, she just gave up. And maybe, just maybe, there was a chance. But then she thought about Nattie and even Quinn. It was all making her head hurt even more. Truth is, she had no idea what she was going to do or what she should do. She was in too much pain to think about it for much longer so she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

“I’m gonna fight.”


	9. Only You Can Hold You Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout before the storm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Song of the Chapter: Fairly Local by Twenty One Pilots
> 
> _I’m evil to the core_   
>  _What I shouldn't do I will_   
>  _They say I’m emotional_   
>  _What I wanna save I’ll kill_   
>  _Is that who I truly am?_   
>  _I truly don’t have a chance_   
>  _Tomorrow I’ll keep a beat_   
>  _And repeat yesterday’s dance_

This was not in Charlotte’s nature. She had no idea how to deal with something like this. Historically speaking, at least recently, she was not good at handling her own emotions, let alone someone else’s. It was early in the afternoon, well past brunch, though they both still ordered eggs. As if either of them were eating anyway. 

“We, uh, should probably talk.”

“I have nothing to say, Charlotte.”

“Look, Nattie, I-”

“Listen, if this is about Tuesday, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“I-”

“It’s not my fault your quote-unquote best friend decided to fight with me.”

“Nat-”

“She’s crazy.”

“NATALYA!”

Nattie stopped and pulled her mouth into a pouty-snarl. It was very unlike her to go off like that. Nattie had always been willing to have conversations about any tough subjects in a professional and calm manner. She was obviously upset, perhaps rightfully so. Maybe more than Charlotte ever gave her credit for.

“Becky was just upset I was hurt. She’s not crazy.”

“Charlotte she ATTACKED me. She’s crazy.”

“No. I got hurt and she was upset. And I don’t condone what she did, but you also egged her on a little.”

“I… I.. I did no such thing! And how would you know? You were half unconscious!”

“Maybe so, but there were plenty of people in the room. I was dazed, but not deaf Natalya.”

Nattie was, finally, quiet for a moment. For the first time in a long time, Charlotte glanced at her over the top of her sunglasses. Nattie’s lips were pursed as she glared out across the street. Charlotte’s plan had been strategic; an open area would keep the drama to a minimum, right? Even in such a space, it was easy to feel the tension in the air. It was time to end this before either of them got hurt again.

Charlotte trailed her fingers over her tea cup. “I don’t think-”

“No, I have something to say Charlotte. I think I’ve been patient enough and I’ve tried and tried but if it’s not you puppy-dog-eying Becky when she walks by, it’s you puppy-dog-eying at your phone. I don’t think that I enjoy being third place in your life and I think it’s time we give up this little experiment.”

Charlotte sat back in her chair. Experiment? Was that all Charlotte was? Despite her intentions to end things, Charlotte still felt blindsided.

“Are you… breaking up with me?”

“Look, I’m not going to be third place anymore. We tried and it didn’t work. Or, at least I tried. I do think most of this was my own fault. I was the idiot who wanted you.”

Charlotte winced as Nattie pushed her chair back and got to her feet. Polite as always, she gently pushed her chair in and left a tip for her half of the brunch on the table. None of the words that hung on Charlotte’s tongue seemed to be the right words, so she silently watched with her mouth slightly agape. She was never good at this consoling thing, even less so when there were tears and break ups involved. 

“And I was the idiot who believed you wanted me too.”

Charlotte grimaced as Nattie walked away; it felt like a punch right to the center of her chest. She wanted so badly to call out after her, to say that she was wrong about all of that. That she was Charlotte’s number one at all times and not just a convenient coping mechanism. Charlotte deflated and sunk deeper into her chair; there was no way she could say to Natalya or anyone else that she had been a good girlfriend. It wasn’t hard to see where Charlotte’s true heart lay. Though Charlotte did in fact care for Natalya and was happy with her, it would have been hard for anyone else to believe that. In fact, Charlotte was sure that absolutely no one would believe that her intentions were good when the two began dating.

Nattie did try, for better or worse, and all she got in return was Charlotte being a useless, lovestruck lesbian. If she was mad and never wanted to talk again, it was hard not to understand why. Charlotte was finding it hard to breathe under all of her crushing guilt. How had she been so negligent, so hurtful to all of those people she cared for? How had she been so selfish? 

“Another tea, ma’am?”

Charlotte snapped out of her self-hating reverie to stare up at the awkward teenage boy. There was no way he was legal to work. He had to be the owner’s son or something. Charlotte wondered if it would be out of place to warn him about terrible people like herself.

“Uh, yeah. Can I have something harder too?”

“Like… uh…”

“Alcohol. Do you serve alcohol?”

“Um… I don’t… I don’t know.”

Charlotte sighed. “Yes, tea is fine. Thank you.”

The waiter scurried off into the dark restaurant as Charlotte pinched the bridge of her nose. The sun was hot on her skin, somehow hotter than her nervousness. She watched people walk up and down the street, living their own lives. She laughed humorlessly. What she wouldn’t give to be one of those people on the sidewalk; minding their own business and living day to day. Anything could be better than this. Better than sitting in this aesthetically-pleasing-yet-entirely-uncomfortable white wicker chair. Better than wondering where the hell things went wrong.

But she knew exactly what had happened. Somehow all of this started with one single night of frustration. One night where Charlotte’s need for human contact couldn’t have possibly been satisfied. One night where she found herself on a stupid dating app to pass the time. One night when fate brought Quinn to her phone and everything went shit-fuck-sideways. Where would Charlotte be if she had just gone to bed that night? If she had just gotten out Ol’ Reliable and fell asleep in a puddle of her own, once again lonely, excitement? It would have been just another forgettable night, albeit a night were Becky’s hands still ghosted across her skin. She would have been able to sleep it off and none of this would have happened at all.

“We serve Bud Light, ma’am.”

Charlotte jerked her head up to the same anxious waiter as he gently set an open bottle of beer on the table.

“Is that… what you wanted?”

“Of course. Thank you.”

Charlotte flashed her bright grin, and couldn’t help but feel the warmth of the waiter as he walked away praising himself. Truthfully, beer was no drink for anyone but a peasant; Especially not the drink of a queen.

“Any port in a storm.” Charlotte muttered to herself as she chugged the bottle back.

Charlotte rolled her eyes at herself. Isn’t that attitude exactly what had gotten her in trouble in the first place? What happened to the hunger that drove her to have and be the very best? What happened to the Queen?

Queen. Charlotte shook her head. Of course that was a Becky Original Idea. NXT Charlotte was treated like she was Ric Flair with breasts. Becky offered the idea of the Queen. Still a Flair, still enriching her father’s legacy, but engraving her own. Everyone ate it up, of course. Every time Becky had called her Queen or, worse yet, ‘your majesty’, Charlotte’s insides felt like they were going to explode. She had wanted so badly for Becky to be her King. How had she ruined everything so… well? How had she managed to ruin the one person who could put up with her, even as a friend?

The vision of Luke walking through the door at Bayley’s party haunted her. She had known that she was never meant to be with Becky, but it was the first time she physically felt it. The absolute hopeless feeling, like someone had put a five hundred pound weight on her chest that she just couldn’t move. How her fears being realized turned almost immediately into blind rage. A rage she was lucky her brother was there to contain.

“Uh… h-here’s another Mrs. Flinch.”

Charlotte laughed at herself; Only seven year olds added their crushes’ name to their first. And yet, here she was, still as Mrs. Flinch and drinking another beer no less.

“Thank you.”

Her smile was forced, but somehow genuine. It wasn’t the waiter’s fault that Charlotte was a wreck.

Oh, and AJ. Would he ever see her the same way again? Sure, they were talking again and things seemed fine. But in the back of Charlotte’s mind, she always heard him barking ‘focus you angsty fuck’. She wished she could get that tattooed on her wrist as a reminder, but the brass wouldn’t like such a pretty little thing with such vulgar language. She rolled her eyes taking another swig of her beer.

If only they knew what Charlotte had been up to. Screaming at her best friend in the streets. Making out with a future hall of famer purely out of spite. Having the craziest sex of her life in the locker room before the show, in the stands after the show, and the one time they were fucking in the ring and almost got caught by Vince himself.

“That’s how I like my girls! Working hard!” He had said, passing right by the side of the ring.

He’d failed to notice Charlotte remove her hand from Nattie’s tights. Apparently his vision was going as quickly as his ability to coherently book an angle. Of course, that happened to be just days prior to when the title match happened that put Charlotte on the shelf for a few weeks. It was a match that changed everything; it was the culmination of all of her terrible and emotional decisions she had made in the last half a year. If her life were a movie or a book, it would be almost to the end credits.

She swirled the bottle around, grimacing at the fact that she’d drank two of the vile things. Like so many of her other decisions, the beer was yet another one she could have done without. But this one was minor. This one was to prepare her for one of, perhaps, the dumbest things she’d ever thought to do. Dumber than dating Natalya. Dumber than loving Becky. Well, probably dumber than loving Becky.

“Ashley?” A voice came from behind her.

This was it. Charlotte’s blood ran cold. There was no turning back. She steadied herself on the table as she stood, drawing a deep breath.

“Quinn, it’s so nice to finall-”

Charlotte stopped mid-sentence.

“Oh my god.”


End file.
